More exciting news! We have just added 8 new students bringing our total of full four year scholarships up to 32. Here are the names of the students and the school they are attending:

Christine Akoth

Alliance Girls High School

Hazel Awuor Omondi

Niyabisawa Girls High School

Loreen Adiahambo

St. Mary's Girls Secondary School, Nyamogo

Marion Jackline Awuor

Niyabisawa Girls High School

Brian Omondi

Kokuru Secondary School

Donald Bicko Otieno

Tarang'anya Boys High School

Maxwel Onyango Owino

Manyatta High School

Shalton Achieng

Awendo Secondary School - Mulo

April, 2016

Exciting News!!! "Roy is Going to College"

We have exciting news on one of our students from the Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund! Roy Omondi, one of our first students, graduated the end of last year from Agoro Sare High School. He then completed the Kenyan Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and just a couple of days ago we received the results for him and they are outstanding! There were more than 523,000 students who took the exam and Roy’s final score was just one point away from being in the top 54 of all students! He will be going to one of the top Universities in Kenya! We are incredibly thrilled about this news and so proud of Roy and what he has accomplished. His hard work has really paid off. Roy will be going to the University of Nairobi stating in September and will major in Economics.

To all of the many, many people who have been supporters of the Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund, this is all because of you. This would not have happened without your generous support. The life that Roy will have is dramatically different than the life he would have had if you had not helped him. Please know that you have made the world a much better place! Asante Sana!

January, 2016

From the money we raised last year we are adding 7 additional students to our program bringing our total scholarships awarded to 24! Here are the names of the 7 new scholarship recipients and the name of the school they will be attending along with their pictures:

I spent three weeks back in Kenya for my fourth trip from June 8, 2015 thru June 29, 2015. Out main mission was to visit the 17 students we have awarded scholarships to at the 12 high schools they attend. It was amazing trip and siting down and talking with each of these wonderful young people, reminds you what all of this is about. They are so excited to be in high school and really realize how blessed they are to have this opportunity. To see more about this trip, please go to the menu on the left and click on Kenya 2015! Asante Sana!

The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund is proud to announce the following:

The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund is very, very proud to announce the names of the six new students, and the schools they will be attending, we are awarding scholarships to. This will bring our total students up to 17. Soon we will know what schools they are attending. Thank you to everyone who has supported this program giving HOPE and a high school education to these hard working, bright and needy children. You are making the world a better place!

If you would like to donate to the Dago, Kenya Scholarship fund named after my parents Bernard and Elsie Weiss, please go to http://www.villagevolunteers.org/donate/. Choose to donate online and on the drop down menu choose "Weiss Scholarship Fund." You can pay via credit card or PayPal. This will go directly to the scholarship account. If someone wants to donate to the Dago Scholarship Fund by check, you can mail a check to "Village Volunteers" (5100 South Dawson Street, Suite 202, Seattle, WA 98118 USA). Write "Weiss Scholarship Fund" on the memo line. If you want to know more about this fund, please go to: http://brettteach.wikispaces.com/Dago+Scholarship+Fund All donations are tax deductible. Thanks!Please go to the following link to watch our thank you video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjm17HuCvWQ&feature=youtu.be

Talking Points on The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund1. Founded in 20112. We have grown from one student to 17 at various high schools around Kenya from first to the fourth year of high school.3. All of the high schools are boarding schools. It only costs about $3,000 for a student to complete four years of high school. This includes room and board, books, tuition, fees, uniforms, etc.4. Only about 20 percent of students in all of Kenya get to go to high school and, virtually all of them, only because they are sponsored.5. The challenge is especially rough for girls as, for a variety of reasons, very few of them even make it to 8th grade and even less for high school. Therefore, one of the rules of our Fund is that all money is divided equally between boys and girls.6. The decision on which students we choose is largely determined by a score all 8th graders in Kenya take called the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE)

The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund was created in 2011 to give HOPE and a high school education to children from Dago, Kenya.

Dago, Kenya is a tiny village of 3,000 people in southwest Kenya where the average family income is less than $500 per year. The people live in mud huts and have no electricity or plumbing. Most children do not even make it to 8th grade, especially girls. Many families have no idea where their next meal is coming from. AIDS has devastated this community. Since the government of Kenya only pays through an eighth grade education, virtually the only students in Dago who get to go to high school are ones that are sponsored, like the 17 students in our program. For many years before our foundation, only a handful of Dago children ever went to high school.This foundation is dramatically changing the lives of these students, thus the lives of the people of Dago, and all of Kenya. These students in turn will grow up and be successful and in turn, help other Kenyan children the way they have been helped.

Pictures of the six new students:

Eve Akoth

Beatrice Awuor

Mayerlize Achieng

Boss Onyango

Hillary Otieno

Michael Otieno

On Friday, December 5, 2014 we had a "Hope For Dago" Fundraiser at Bannermans' in Bartlett, IL. Kimani, who is from Kenya and received a scholarship to go to High School via the "Hilde Back Education Fund" and is now a student at the University of Wisconsin - Parkside, spoke at the event. Here is a video interview of Kimani that was prepared for the event.

A former student of mine who insists on remaining nameless because he does not want to take credit for this, has done a video interview of me about this Scholarship Fund, and has produced two wonderful videos. The full version is a bit over 9 minutes and the shorter version is a bit over 4 minutes. Included in this is a mobile version of our new logo. If you ever want to share with someone what this entire program is all about, please have him watch one or both of the videos.

January 2014 - Announcement of additional students awarded this scholarshipThe following four students from the Dago, Kenya Primary School have recently been awarded the Bernard and Elsie Weiss Scholarship Fund to pay for their high school education. Each of them did very well on the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education and comes from a needy Dago family. They have already begin their studies at the high school were selected for.

The four students are Mackline Anyango (Oyugi Ogango Girls Secondary School), Faith Jackline (Moi Nyabohanse Girls High School, Nelson Mandela (Awendo Secondary School-Mulo)and Ralph Omondi (Ogutu-Migori Secondary School). The village of Dago where they come from has an average annual income of less than $500 per family, they live in mud huts, food can be very hard to come by, the community is ravaged by AIDS and a lack of medical care and historically only a few students have ever gone to high school. They have begun their school year (the school year in Kenya is Jan – Dec)

Here are some of the words each of these students used in their application for this scholarship.

Faith wants to achieve her dream of becoming an engineer and to help her entire community by providing them with the knowledge of her education.

Mackline’s goal is to become a nurse and wants to help her community by helping pay school fees for other children.

Nelson wants to continue his education because he knows that education is the light to success and he would like to build a building where the sick can get free healthcare.

Ralph wants to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor and build health centers in various communities in Kenya.The eleven students in this program go to eight different high schools in Kenya. They are all boarding schools. The cost of a year of high school per student is roughly $700 per year and that covers room and board, school fees, tuition, books, uniforms and other expenses. Thus $2,800 gets a Kenyan student a high school education and gives them a real hope of a great life.

Faith

Mackline

Nelson

Ralph

Summer 2013 Trip to Kenya to visit each of the 7 students the fund is sponsoring

Below are pictures of all seven of the scholarship recipients at their respective high schools this past summer of 2013. Isca and Roy are in their second year (Form 2) and the rest are in their first year (Form 1). Please help us to sent more of the Dago children to high school. Here is how you can help:

If you would like to donate to the Dago, Kenya Scholarship fund named after my parents Bernard and Elsie Weiss, please go to http://www.villagevolunteers.org/donate/. Choose to donate on-line and on the dropdown menu choose "Weiss Scholarship Fund". You can pay via credit card or PayPal. This will go directly to the scholarship account. If someone wants to donate to the Dago Scholarship Fund by check, you can mail a check to "Village Volunteers" (5100 South Dawson Street, Suite 202, Seattle, WA 98118 USA). Write "Weiss Scholarship Fund" on the memo line. If you want to know more about this fund, please go to: http://brettteach.wikispaces.com/Dago+Scholarship+Fund All donations are tax deductible. Thanks!

Vivian Awuor - St. Mary Gorrety's Dede Girls Secondary School

Vincent Okech - Koderobara Secondary School

Isca Odhiambo - Oyugi Ogango Girls Secondary School

Roy Omondi - Agoro Sare Secondary SChool

Lencer Awino - St. Mary Gorrety's Dede Girls Secondary School

Nicholus Okoth - St. Pius Uriri High School

Victor Otieno - St. Pius Uriri High School

I did a short interview of each of these students. Here is a link to each of the videos on YouTube:

The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Fund
In the spring of 2011, I started the "Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund" named after my parents with the goal of providing a high school education to deserving and needy students in Dago, Kenya, to help them get to a university and uplift their family and community. This fund is managed through Village Volunteers (www.villagevolunteers.org)

Four New Recipients of the Dago, Kenya Scholarship Fund (March, 2013)
The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago, Kenya Scholarship Fund is proud to announce the four new recipients of this award. They are Nicholus Okoth, Vincent Okech, Vivian Awuor and Lencer Awino. They are now getting ready to begin their four year high school career thanks to the many people who have donated to this fund.

In addition, Nicholus’ award carries the special distinction of being the "Father Louis Querbes Scholarship" thanks to the Viatorians, St. Viator High School and Father Corey Brost.

Lencer Awino

Vincent Okech

Nicholus Okoth

Vivian Awuor

Nicholus will be attending St. Pius Uriri High School while Vincent will be attending the Koderobara Secondary School. Vivian and Lencer will both be attending St. Mary Gorrety’s Dede Girls Secondary School.

These students join the first two recipients of this award, Roy Omondi (Agoro Sare High School) and Iscah Aoko (Oyugi Ogango Girl’s Secondary School) who are now starting their second year of high school. The vast majority of children in Kenya do not go to high school because there is no government support and most families cannot afford the cost.

In Lencer’s application she said that “education is the light of all nations” and she “would like to join a university” so she can become a nurse. She wants to “ensure that there will be no sick people in her community” and “everybody will be treated free of charge”. She wants to, “make sure everyone receives clean water” and “to help the needy as well as my poor community”.

In Vivian’s application she wrote, “education means a lot to me because it will help me achieve my dreams.” She wants to join a university after high school and become a lawyer. She then wants “to finance needy children who are willing to go to school, and assist all the physically disabled children in achieving their dreams.” She also says, “my family will be happy because they have a learned girls who will be able to help them in their daily life”.

In Nicholus’ application he says he wants to “acquire knowledge and be a role model in our society so that the community children can follow in my footsteps”. He wants to attend high school so he can “join a university” and then, “become a patriotic citizen and a person who is always helping the society and community. He wants to, “involve myself fully in projects like building bridges, making infrastructure and building schools”. He also wants to “mobilize and educate my community members on different dangers that may affect their lives like how to prevent HIV/AIDS.

In Vincent’s application he says, “Education means success to me as I understand it”. He wants to increase his marks in secondary school because, “sometimes (in the past) I am not able to read during the night because of a lack of kerosene”. His “goal after secondary school is to become a lawyer” and “make everybody aware of his or her rights”. He also wants to “sponsor needy pupils”, “build some hospitals”, “provide our community with fresh water so they don’t get sick”, and “make sure farmers know their rights and are not cheated by companies”.

The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago, Kenya Scholarship Fund thanks the many, many supporters who make all of this possible. We will continue to report on the progress of these children and continue to raise money to support additional children.

Victor - A young man whom I sponsor on my own went to St. Benedict's for 7th and 8th grades and as of 1/13 goes to high school at St. Pius Uriri High School

Dago, Kenya Students Benefit from the Dago Scholarship Fund - October, 2012
Iscah Aoko Odhiambo and Roy Omondi are about to enter their second year of high school because of the many people who have generously donated to the Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund. Without this fund, their lives would be similar to the majority of children from villages throughout Kenya, destined to live their life as their parents have lived theirs. This means living in a mud hut, working as a farmer for subsistence wages and continuing the tragic cycle of poverty. Now Iscah and Roy have a real opportunity to have a great life and to help others.

Iscah - Summer 2012

Roy and his Mother - Summer 2012

Iscah attends the Oyugi Ogango Girls Secondary School and Roy attends the Agoro Sare High School. This past August both Roy and Iscah were asked about the message they would like to give to the many people who have donated money so they are able to go to high school. (Please understand that English is their third language.)
Iscah’s comments were:

“I take this opportunity to thank Almighty Father for having guided me and you.”

“…thank you for what you are doing for me. You have saved me from a miserable life.”

“Since you started sponsoring me my life style has changed and I can now pass the mental problem that I used to undergo about my school. I really appreciate what you are doing . If you would not have done this I would not have even seen the gate of high school. I would not know what chemistry is.”

“Through God’s strength and mine I will utilize whatever you have provided me with. I promise to work hard since it is said hard work pays and also education is the key to success.”

“I wish that in the future I will also sponsor some people who are going to high school.

Roy’s comments were:

…”appreciate your kindness and generosity in paying for my Agoro school fee”

…”Through my hard work in Primary school I was able to get your scholarship. You taught me clearly that hard work pays.”

…”you have also taught me that I should be ready to do to others whatever good you have done to me and I assure you I will try my best to help others who are in need in the future.”

“I wish everybody on earth had the same heart you have and the planet earth could be a better place to live in.”

“I am quite sure I am going to achieve my dreams in the future of becoming a lawyer.”

“May the Almighty God bless you as you continue doing great things through your generosity in helping students.”

This January, when the new school year starts in Kenya, the Dago Scholarship Fund will continue to support Roy and Iscah and hopes to sponsor additional children to help them begin high school. The fund is looking for people to donate and all donations are welcome.

Dago, Kenya Scholarship Fund Announces Its First Winners - February, 2012
The Bernard and Elsie Weiss Dago Scholarship Fund is proud to announce its first scholarship recipients for the 2012 School Year in Kenya. Receiving a scholarship to cover their four years of high school are Iscah Aoko Odhiambo and Roy Omondi. Soon it will be announced which high schools they will be attending. The fund has committed to paying the costs of their four years of high school. The goal of The Fund is to give deserving and needy students from Dago, Kenya (the vast majority of whom are not going to high school currently) a chance at success in high school and then allow them to go to a university where they can create a great life for themselves and, in return, help out their home community of Dago.

Iscah is a "total orphan" who lost her parents and has been raised primarily at the Dago Dela Hera orphanage. Her favorite subjects are mathematics and science. She wants to go to a university so she can get a good job and help her family and community.

Roy is a "partial orphan" having lost his father. His favorite subjects are mathematics and social studies. He wants to get to a university so he can have a great job and life and says he would then like to pay school fees for other orphans in his community so they can go ahead and study. He also wants to help the poor and widows in his community.
The Fund will continue raising money and in January of 2013 will announce additional recipients of this scholarship from the new Class Eight (8th Grade) at the Dago Primary School. If you would like to donate to the Dago, Kenya Scholarship fund named after Bernard and Elsie Weiss, please go to http://www.villagevolunteers.org/donate. On the dropdown menu choose Dago Dela Hera Orphanage and in the memo line put Dago Scholarship Fund. This will go directly to the scholarship account.
If you have any questions about this fund, please send an email to: dagoscholarshipfund@gmail.com.

Iscah

Roy

We are currently in the middle of our 2012 donation campaign with our hope to sponsor additional students come the start of next year. Your help will be much appreciated!!

The school year in Kenya is the calendar year so around February 1, 2013 we will name additional recipients of this scholarship who will come from Dago Class 8 (8th grade) students. We will commit to them for the entire four years of high school however we will reserve the right to renew or not renew each year based on the grades and academic progress of the student. Money will be used equally for boys and girls. A year of high school (all of the high schools are boarding schools) is about $700 U.S. Dollars (Thus....$2,800 for four years.) This includes everything from room and board, uniforms, books, school fees, etc.

Recommendations for the scholarship recipients will be made by Dago people led by Mama Pamela and Duncan Odoyo but final decisons will be made here in the United States by myself (Brett Weiss), Shana Greene - Director of Village Volunteers, and Partick and Susan Odoyo.